


this is the story of a girl (who cried a river and drowned the whole world)

by BookPirate



Series: i may be a mess but at least i'm a hot one [1]
Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, hot mess au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 18:30:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4490169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookPirate/pseuds/BookPirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy Blake hates his job but then again that's how he meets Clarke Griffin so things could be worse.</p><p>Drabble based on a 'imagine your OTP in these hot mess situations'</p>
            </blockquote>





	this is the story of a girl (who cried a river and drowned the whole world)

**Author's Note:**

> First of five but this is the only Bellarke one. It's really just them meeting there's not really any romance or anything but it's still pretty cute. Bellamy is very comforting and lets Clarke cry all over him it's adorable.
> 
> The prompt for this one is: ‘you’re lying on the floor of the movie theater crying and i’m the employee who has to tell you another movie starts in five minutes so you have to leave and i’m really sorry but im also confused as to why a documentary on lightbugs affected you so much’
> 
> Title from 'Absolutely (Story of a Girl)' by Nine Days

Bellamy hates his job. Absolutely hates it. Everything from the people going to see the movies at the theater to the popcorn that inevitably litters the aisles because people think they can do whatever the hell they want.

He wishes he could do whatever the hell he wants, but he’s got a 16-year-old sister to take care of, and between his classes and taking care of her, the movie theater was the only place willing to work with his schedule.

But still. Fuck people. And popcorn.

He’s probably in an especially bad mood on Thursday, because he had just received his Octavia’s report card. She was pulling all Cs, and when he tried to lecture her about it, she pointed out he was also pulling Cs. Needless to say, the conversation did not go well.

He gives a curt nod to Miller, who’s working the concession stand, that signal that he’s heading into theater 6 to clean up the mess the people watching ‘Flight of the Fireflies’ left behind. He doesn’t even have to look to know there’s popcorn everywhere, even though there were only six people in there.

Fucking popcorn.

He huffs under his breath as he starts sweeping up the aisles. He doesn’t understand why anybody went to go see the movie, really, because he can’t imagine a documentary on fireflies being good. At all.

That’s partly why he’s surprised to find a girl huddled up in her seat in the last row of seats. He stops in shock because she’s crying what Octavia likes to call the “ugly cry”. He wonders if he seriously misunderstood what ‘Flight of the Fireflies’ was about.

“Um, hey there,” he ends up saying lamely. He was hoping she would notice him first but it doesn’t look like that’s happening, and the next showing of the movie is due to start in ten minutes.

As predicted, she hadn’t noticed him, so she flies up in her seat. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!”

He’s a little slack-jawed because, now that he can see her face clearly, he can obviously tell she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. There’s blond hair everywhere and, even though they’re puffy and red, her eyes are a piercing blue. “Are you okay?”

She had been scrubbing her cheeks in a vain effort to wipe the tears (and snot) away, but at his question, the girl (woman, really) bursts into tears.

He is now mildly alarmed so he drops his broom and pan to wrap his arms around her. It’s a little awkward at first, but soon she relaxes and clutches on to the front of his shirt as he murmurs soothing words into her (very nice smelling) hair.

Finally her tears seem to dry and she pulls back. Bellamy reluctantly lets her go. She wipes the remaining tears away with the sleeves of her shirt, and chuckles a little bit. “Now I’m really sorry,” she says, pointing at the front of his shirt.

He looks down and, sure enough, there’s a huge spot of tears on it. He laughs. “I’ve had worse, believe me. Especially working here.”

“Regardless.” She gives him a sheepish smile. “I guess I have to leave, huh?”

“Well, the next viewing is in three minutes,” he says, checking his watch, “but you should probably have something to eat and drink. Crying jags take it out of you.”

“Know this from personal experience?” she asks, a humorless smile twisting the once genuine one.

“Yeah,” he answers, truthfully. He usually doesn’t tell people how badly he took it when his mom died, but this girl looks like she could use some solidarity. He stands up and offers her his hand. “Come on, I’ve got some hookups with the concession stand.”

She is silent but places her hand in his and allows him to lead her to the concession stand. Miller is doing what looks like his homework for the calculus course Bellamy thankfully does not have to take, due to his history major. The place is basically dead, the customers rushing into the different theaters. “’Sup, man?” Miller asks before looking up. “Oh.”

“This is -” Bellamy pauses when he realizes he still doesn’t know the girl’s name. He looks back at her.

“Clarke,” she supplies.

“This is Clarke,” he says, turning back to Miller. “And she needs a Coke and a pretzel.”

“With cheese, please,” she adds.

“With cheese. Put it on my tab.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Clarke starts to argue, but Bellamy just raises an eyebrow at her.

Miller sighs. “Better just let him do what he wants or he’s gonna be a pain in the ass.”

Clarke gives him a small smile. “Well, in that case, thanks.”

“No problem.” Bellamy pats the counter. Miller quickly hands him the food, which he hands to Clarke. “Want to go sit down?”

“Sure.” She nods, grateful. “Thank you, too!”

Miller just gives them a wave as Bellamy leads her to the Manager’s Office. He knows it’s empty even though technically there’s always supposed to be a manager on duty. Cassie had taken off early though, because Thursdays are usually pretty dead. Bellamy resents it a little, but she’s also got a kid, so he can sort of relate.

He makes sure Clarke’s got some napkins before sitting in the chair across from her, and then gives her a minute to finish the pretzel. “So, wanna talk about it?”

She takes a sip of her Coke before replying. “I guess I should probably give you some sort of explanation, you know, because of the free food and all.”

He smiles. “Probably.”

She sighs before leaning back in the chair. “My dad died.”

The smile drops from his face. “I’m so sorry.”

She makes a weird movement with her hand, probably trying to signal that it’s okay. She sniffs a little but manages to keep it together. “It was a year ago, but it’s been hard. We were really close, and he died kind of suddenly.” A look passes over her face, but Bellamy knows better than to press the issue. “Anyways, every summer we’d go hunting for fireflies, and keep them in jars, you know? It was our favorite thing to do, and he’d always tell me stories about the fireflies we caught, little fairytales he’d make up on the spot.” Her voice cracks and she presses her eyelids together tightly. “Sorry.”

His hand reaches across the desk and covers hers. “No, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“I do, though.” She opens her eyes and turns her hand under his so she can squeeze it. “I mean, I think I should talk about it, and you’re here.”

“Thanks,” he says dryly.

She smiles. It’s watery, but there all the same. “Um, so I heard this movie was coming out, and it’s pretty near to the one-year anniversary, so I figured this would be a good way to remember him. Instead, it just fucked me up. I barely kept it together when there were people in there, and then the movie ended and everyone left and I sort of let it go.”

His thumb rubs soothing circles into the back of her hand. “I understand. My uh, my mom died a few years ago, and I was a wreck for a long time.”

“Does it,” she pauses, “does it get better?”

“You learn how to deal with it,” he says honestly, “but it still hurts.”

She exhales, shaky. “That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

They sit in silence for a while before Clarke sighs. “I should probably get going. I have class tomorrow, and my professor’s a real dick about attendance.”

“You in college?” he asks as he helps her throw her stuff into the trash.

“Yeah, I go to Ark U. It’s just down the road.”

He laughs. “I know. I go there, too.”

“Oh yeah?” She tilts her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.”

“I’m a history major, and also don’t spend much time on campus,” he explains. Due to Octavia, but he doesn’t mention that.

“Pre-med,” she says, and there’s a beat of silence. “Thank you, for everything.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says, and means it. He had Miller when his mom died, so he just hopes Clarke has somebody. He hopes it could be him. “Maybe I’ll see you around campus?”

“Yeah,” she smiles up at him, “I’d like that. You ever go to Grounders?”

“The coffee shop on campus?” He wonders if she’s going to ask him on a date, and if she doesn’t he wonders if he should ask her instead, but then worries that might be inappropriate due to the amount of crying she’s done in his presence in the past hour they’ve known each other.

“Yeah, I work there most afternoons, from two to six. You should stop by sometime, and I’ll spot you coffee, to make up for all this.” She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “I really wasn’t expecting all this to happen.”

“Seriously, it’s fine,” he stresses, because he doesn’t want her feeling guilty on top of everything else. “But yeah, I’ll come see you one of these days, definitely.”

“Good.” She pauses, then steps in to give him a hug. “Bye, Bellamy,” she whispers before she gives him a kiss on the cheek, and leaves.

Bellamy can’t forget the feeling of her lips on his cheek, because it’s possibly the best thing he’s ever felt, and works the rest of his shift with a happy smile.

(When he finally kisses her properly a week later, he changes his mind though. _That_ is definitely the best thing he’s ever felt.)


End file.
